Why You Need to Rotate Your Team Roles

Before replacing players, switch the roles

Before replacing players, switch their roles.

“Fixation is the way to death. Fluidity is the way to life.”
 — Miyamoto Musashi

Successful teams require more than great players — they need people to play complementary roles that reinforce each other. Roles define expected behaviors — they drive clarity for both the individual playing it and the team.

However, unlike titles, roles must be fluid. Just as we can get stuck playing a particular role in our families, our business roles can also grow stagnant.

A role is not a title. It’s the part played by a team member in a particular situation or project. A role can be played by more than one person. One person can play various parts.

A role represents a fraction of work. Unlike a position or title, it’s not a full-time job — roles don’t equal souls.

Avoiding Team Stagnation

“Fluidity and discontinuity are central to the reality in which we live.” — Mary Catherine Bateson

According to Social Psychologist Enrique Pichón Riviere, a role in an organize…